


New Year, New Horizons

by silverskyfullofstars



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky loves space, Gen, I wrote a story about Bucky loving space because NASA did a thing, NASA, New Horizons space probe, Pluto And Beyond NOVA episode, badly edited with no beta in the name of space, you know when you write something just because something cool happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 20:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17331794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silverskyfullofstars/pseuds/silverskyfullofstars
Summary: Bucky loves space, so the NOVA episode on the New Horizons flyby of Ultima Thule was pretty awesome for him.





	New Year, New Horizons

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, shit. Here comes that badly edited oneshot that only happened because this dumbass author loves space and has decided that Bucky shares her love for space rocks.
> 
> If you want to know more about the science I mentioned, go to the NASA site for the New Horizons mission or watch the awesome NOVA episode Pluto and Beyond.
> 
> https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html  
> https://www.pbs.org/video/pluto-and-beyond-gwcrnv/

“Stevie, c’mere!” 

Steve came into the living room and leaned over the back of the couch. Bucky was piled in blankets and pillows, a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of water on the coffee table. He pointed to the TV, where a NOVA documentary on Pluto was playing.

“What is it?” he asked. Bucky turned his head to look at Steve over the back of the sofa, eyes bright with excitement.

“They’re talking about the New Horizons probe. Y’know, the one that flew by Pluto in 2015?”

Steve did remember. Pluto had always been Bucky’s favorite planet, ever since its discovery in 1930. They had just been kids, then, but Steve would never forget what Bucky had said to him.

 

_ “Hey Buck, why’s Pluto your favorite?” Steve asked, leaning against the fire escape to angle his head up to the stars. _

_ “Some of it’s ‘cause it’s the newest one,” Bucky said thoughtfully, “but mostly ‘cause it’s small, and kinda forgotten out there. All alone in space…” he trailed off. “It reminds me of you. Tiny, but bright. Ignored, sometimes, but you sure as hell won’t let ‘em forget you’re there.” _

 

12-year-old Steve hadn’t known the importance of that declaration, but looking back, Steve knew exactly how much it had meant. Space, to Bucky, was a perfect world. Untouched by humanity except to name and identify, it was a world of wonder and discovery for his imagination to explore. It was  _ his  _ place, a place where no one could hurt him, and the first thing he did was to place Steve beside the little planet he loved the most.

 

Shaking off the memory, Steve turned back to Bucky.

“Yeah, I do. Did they do somethin’ else?”

Bucky beamed at him, his excitement palpable. “They changed the probe’s trajectory. Aimed it for a virtually unknown object in the Kuiper Belt and ended up hittin’ the jackpot!”

Steve leaned further over the back of the couch and wrapped his arms around as much of Bucky as he could reach, getting a fair amount of blanket in the process. “Interesting space rock, I gather?”

“More than interesting, groundbreaking! It’s called Ultima Thule. Reddish-colored, kinda peanut-shaped? They’re sayin’ it could help them confirm theories about how the solar system formed. Like how a leftover brick can tell you a bit about how they built the building.”

“Mmm.” Steve hummed in acknowledgement, pausing as a thought came to him. “Hey Buck, does this kinda stuff interest you enough to get a job on it?”

 

Bucky laughed, half in astonishment and half in wonder. “I would if I could, Stevie, but that work takes years of school. You gotta get a doctorate, and you gotta get a job, and you gotta get funding…” He trailed off, a small smile ticking up the corners of his mouth. “But I’d love to work with a team like that. The Avengers are great, but there’s always that shadow of death in the background. This’d be doin’ something I love with people who love it too, working for years on something that might not even work but you care for too much not to do.”

 

“Well,” Steve said, “I dunno about that doctorate, but Tony has an interest in space and the money to spend on it, so if you really wanted to work on outer space exploration, he might be the guy to go to.”

Steve squeezed Bucky’s shoulder. “And hey, now that you’re not running missions anymore, you could go back to school. You’ve got the time for it, and we’ve got the money. All you’d have to do is apply and get in.”

“You say that like gettin’ into college is easy as pie.”

“Maybe not for students who are stressing about school on top of applications, but for a smart guy like you with plenty of time to spend? Sure. You’ve got the brain for it, at least.”

“Flatterer.”

Steve grinned, a playful note in his voice. “You only say that ‘cause I didn’t finish. I was gonna say you got the brain for it, but your face could use some work.”

“You really wanna tell your one and only boyfriend that he’s got an ugly face, Stevie? Plus, your ugly face could give mine a run for its money.”

“Remind me why we’re dating, again?”

“You love me.”

“Yeah. I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Note on Anachronisms: Pluto was discovered in 1930, but they thought it was about the size of Earth when they attempted to calculate its mass relative to Earth in 1941. They didn’t get closer to the correct estimate until after the 1940s, so Bucky wouldn’t have known that it was the smallest planet until he looked it up after his recovery from being the Winter Soldier (I say after because I doubt HYDRA was telling the Asset about new developments in planetary science). The most accurate size estimates of Pluto are probably from the New Horizons space probe.


End file.
